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THE  COCO  PALM 


OHMERSITV  OF  flllMNS  librarv 

AUG  16  1922 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


CHICAGO 
1922 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


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Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Department  of  Botany 
Chicago,  1922 


Leaflet  Number  2 


The  Coco  Palm 

The  coco  palm  grows  along  tropical  shores 
throughout  the  world.  Its  origin  has  at  times  been 
ascribed  to  the  western  hemisphere  where  it  is  found 
in  places  on  the  west  coast  of  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica, but  it  is  more  likely  that  it  belongs  originally 
rather  to  the  East  Indian  Archipelago  and  Oceania. 
Its  cultivation  in  any  case  probably  originated  in  south- 
eastern Asia  where  many  varieties  of  it  exist  and  where 
its  uses  are  more  thoroughly  appreciated  than  in  the 
American  tropics. 

The  fruits  of  the  coco  palm  float  and  are  readily 
transported  by  the  sea.  They  will  germinate  even 
after  a  lengthy  immersion  in  salt  water,  which  helps 
to  account  for  its  wide  distribution.  On  the  smaller 
Oceanic  Islands  it  constitutes  the  most  important  part 
of  the  vegetation  and  together  with  a  few  wild  strand 
plants,  perhaps  the  most  constant  and  characteristic. 
It  is  however  seldom  encountered  except  in  a  state  of 
cultivation.  As  an  escape  it  may  be  one  of  the  first 
of  waterborn  plants  to  arrive  on  newly  elevated  land 
or  reef.  On  a  volcanic  island  in  Polynesia,  visited 
four  years  after  its  appearance  by  the  British  man-of- 
war  Egeria,  the  vegetation  was  thus  found  to  consist 
of  two  young  coconut  palms  and  three  other  plants. 
Preferring  the  loose  soil  of  sandy  beaches  it  is  mostly 
confined  to  them  though  in  places  it  is  grown  away 
from  the  shore  and  even  at  a  not  inconsiderable  alti- 
tude.    In  the  Philippines  it  is  said  to  have  been  planted 

[9] 


2  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

up  to  5,000  feet  but  above  1,500  to  2,000  feet,  it  fails 
to  flourish. 

To  the  traveler  its  tall  cylindrical  trunk,  slightly 
curved  near  the  base,  often  sixty  to  eighty  or  more  feet 
in  height,  seems  to  impart  as  nothing  else  a  tropical 
character  to  the  landscape.  Few  tropical  trees  can 
surpass  it  in  utility.  In  some  of  the  regions  where  it 
grows  it  supplies  to  the  inhabitants  almost  all  the 
necessaries  of  life. 

The  coco  palm  differs  so  greatly  from  any  of  the 
trees  of  our  temperate  zone  that  its  habit  of  growth 
and  its  manner  of  flowering  and  fruiting  are  of  con- 
siderable interest.  It  is  always  produced  from  seed. 
For  this  purpose  the  mature  coconuts  are  set  out  to 
sprout  in  beds  on  the  ground,  ordinarily  under  partial 
shade.  The  East  Indian  hangs  them  in  baskets  or 
ties  them  to  poles  or  to  the  limbs  of  a  tree.  They  are 
never  embedded  entirely  in  the  soil  till  ready  to  plant, 
which  is  in  about  a  year,  when  the  roots  have  pene- 
trated the  husk  and  the  first  leaves  have  appeared. 
The  young  plants  are  then  set  out  some  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  feet  apart.  During  the  early  years  of  its 
life  the  coco  palm  does  not  differ  greatly  in  general 
appearance  from  several  of  our  small  hot-house  palms. 
Leaves  of  moderate  size  arise  from  near  the  ground 
and  for  some  time  there  is  scarcely  any  visible  promise 
of  the  future  lofty  trunk.  The  first  leaves  are  entire 
as  they  appear,  and  do  not,  like  the  later  ones,  split 
immediately  into  the  characteristic  feathery  laminae. 
It  is  only  after  the  first  few  dozen  leaves  have  been 
shed  and  the  cylindrical,  woody  stem  becomes  visible 
that  the  plant  begins  to  acquire  its  characteristic  as- 
pect, which  is  complete  when  flowering  commences  in 
about  the  sixth  to  eighth  year.  The  coco  palm  matures 
in  twenty  to  forty  years  and  continues  to  bear  almost 
continuously  for  sixty  to  eighty  years  longer. 

[10] 


The  Coco  Palm  3 

The  growing  point  of  the  tree  is  at  the  apex.  The 
terminal  bud  is  always  present,  enveloped  and  shielded 
by  the  bases  of  several  young  and  unexpanded  leaves 
that  make  up  the  top  of  the  plant.  The  flower-buds 
are  situated  in  the  leaf-axils,  one  to  each  leaf.  A 
flower-bud  on  its  first  appearance  is  two  or  three  feet 
long,  cylindrical  and  tapering.  Its  green  color  is  due 
to  an  enveloping  sheath,  the  spathe.  As  the  bud 
swells  with  growth  it  bursts  its  envelope,  the  spathe 
splitting  lengthwise,  revealing  the  flowering  spike  of 
a  pale  straw  color.  In  a  few  days  this  has  freed  itself 
from  its  spathe  and  has  become  a  fully  expanded 
branching  spike,  in  general  shape  much  like  a  gigantic 
corn  tassel.  Each  of  its  twenty  to  thirty  branches  is 
closely  set  with  prismatically  compressed,  small  buds 
of  a  pale  straw  color  and  of  a  horny  texture.  These 
are  the  buds  of  the  male  flowers  and  soon  begin  to 
open,  usually  a  few  at  a  time  on  each  branch,  after 
which  they  fall  off.  Eventually  there  remains  on  the 
flowering  spike  only  the  female  flowers,  each  of  the 
size  of  a  horse-chestnut  and  from  the  very  first  roughly 
indicative  of  the  shape  of  the  fruit.  While  the  male 
flowers  are  rather  perfect  with  free  floral  leaves,  six 
stamens  and  a  rudimentary  three-parted  pistil,  the 
female  coco  palm  flower  seems  to  have  suppressed  all 
frills  to  devote  itself  from  the  beginning  exclusively 
to  the  production  of  coconuts.  The  male  flowers  are 
insect-visited,  but  the  palm  is  apparently  wind-pollin- 
ated. Within  a  short  time  the  young  coconuts  look 
much  like  huge,  green  acorns.  They  grow  rapidly  and 
in  about  a  year  they  have  attained  their  full  dimen- 
sions. As  the  coconut  matures,  the  outer  envelope 
begins  to  turn  brown  and  to  shrink.  With  the  shrink- 
age the  well-known,  roughly  triangular  shape  of  the 
fruit  becomes  emphasized. 

A  full-sized  fruit  cluster  consists  of  twelve  to 

[11] 


4  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

twenty  coconuts.  The  flowering  continues  the  year 
around  and  a  tree  in  prime  condition  yields  upwards 
of  100  fruits  annually,  distributed  over  four  or  five 
harvests.  The  record  in  the  Philippines  is  470  nuts 
from  a  tree. 

The  leaves  of  the  coco  palm  are  attached  directly 
to  the  main  stem.  They  are  commonly  twenty  feet 
or  more  in  length.  They  are  shed  one  by  one  as  the 
fruit  clusters  mature  and  drop,  or  are  removed,  so  that 
the  clusters  of  ripe  fruit  are  always  associated  with 
the  lowermost  leaves.  Each  leaf-base  with  its  sheath 
completely  encircles  the  central  trunk,  the  character- 
istic ridges  or  roughness  of  which  are  due  to  the  old 
leaf-scars.  The  dry  bast-like  leaf  sheathes  may  be  seen 
surrounding  the  bearing  portion  of  the  trunk.  Split 
and  partially  torn  away  from  their  respective  leaf 
bases,  they  give  it  an  untidy  appearance.  Their  pres- 
ence is  puzzling  to  account  for,  till  one  observes  them 
in  position  on  the  topmost  leaves.  There  they  serve 
to  tie  together  the  bundle  of  young  leaves  surrounding 
the  growing  tip,  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the 
tree  in  regions  subject  to  severe  winds. 

The  near-ripe  fruit  of  almost  full  size,  but  still 
green,  contains  a  fluid,  slightly  milky  in  appearance 
and  sub-acid,  the  "coconut  milk,"  or  "water,"  which 
furnishes  a  pleasant  drink.  To  obtain  it,  one  must 
cut  through  the  outer  fibrous  tissue,  then  the  inner 
dense  and  hard  layer  which,  like  an  egg  shell,  sur- 
rounds the  embryo  plant  with  its  stored  food-material. 
At  an  early  stage  this  forms  only  a  thin  gelatinous 
layer  within  the  shell,  the  remainder  being  the  fluid 
"milk."  As  the  coconut  ripens  the  layer  of  "endo- 
sperm," the  botanical  term  for  this  food  material,  be- 
comes thicker  and  of  firm  consistence  and  the  water 
more  like  milk. 

In  some  places  a  drink  is  obtained  from  the  coco 

f  12] 


THE  IIP 

OF  fHE 


The  Coco  Palm  5 

palm  in  another  manner.  The  stem  and  branches  of 
the  flower  spike  are  tied  into  a  bundle  and  cut,  and 
over  the  cut  end  is  fixed  a  vessel  consisting  of  a  length 
of  bamboo.  The  sap  which  would  ordinarily  go  to 
the  formation  of  the  cluster  of  fruit  is  obtained  in  this 
way.  The  bamboo  is  emptied  each  day,  the  collector 
sometimes  passing  by  aerial  bridges  from  tree  to  tree. 
The  fermented  juice  is  variously  known  as  "tuba"  or 
"toddy."  Eleven  million  gallons  of  it  were  produced 
in  the  Philippines  in  1913. 

The  main  product  of  the  tree  is,  however,  the  white 
meat  of  the  coconut.  The  mature  nuts  are  allowed  to 
fall  naturally  or  are  gathered  four  or  five  times  a  year 
by  pulling  them  down  with  hooks  or  by  climbing  the 
trees  when  situated  too  high  to  be  reached  from  the 
ground.  They  are  collected  into  piles  and  husked  by 
beating  against  the  sharpened  end  of  a  stake  or  iron 
point  fixed  upright  in  the  ground.  They  are  then 
split  with  a  bush  knife  or  cleaver  and  are  left  in  the 
sun  to  dry  somewhat,  which  loosens  the  white  coconut 
meat  from  the  shell.  The  dried  meat  is  known  as 
"copra."  It  constitutes  an  important  article  of  com- 
merce. Dessicated  and  grated  it  forms  the  shredded 
coconut  of  the  confectioners,  but  its  principal  value 
depends  on  its  oil  content,  fifty  per  cent  or  more  by 
weight.  The  oil  is  obtained  from  the  copra  by  pres- 
sure. The  remaining  "cake"  is  a  valuable  fodder.  The 
coconut  oil  is  at  ordinary  temperature,  a  soft,  white 
fat  of  somewhat  objectionable  taste  and  odor.  It  has 
always  been  highly  esteemed  as  a  fat  for  soap  making, 
but  its  present-day,  more  important  use  dates  from  the 
discovery  that  the  addition  of  an  atom  of  hydrogen  to 
the  molecule  of  fat  renders  it  perfectly  bland  and  com- 
estible. (See  Slosson,  "Creative  Chemistry"  for  an 
account  of  vegetable  fats.)  It  is  now  widely  used  in 
the  preparation  of  butter  substitutes  and  is  consumed 

[13] 


6  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

in  large  quantities  in  France  and  Germany.  The 
United  States  imported  in  the  month  of  September  of 
1921,  3,000,000  pounds  of  husked  coconuts  and  copra. 
The  normal  monthly  European  consumption  is  at  least 
fifteen  to  twenty  times  as  great.  The  production  is 
capable  of  almost  indefinite  expansion. 

The  husk  of  the  coconut  is  also  of  considerable 
value.  It  furnishes  a  fibre  known  as  coir  (pronounced 
kir,  Portuguese  cairo  from  Malayalam  kayar,  rope, 
cord)  and  is  one  of  the  principal  brush,  belting,  matting 
and  rope  making  materials.  Cordage  made  from  it  is 
rough,  but  light  and  has  the  virtue  of  floating  which 
is  advantageous  for  certain  purposes,  as  for  ship's 
cables.  Even  paper  has  been  made  from  coir,  at  least 
one  factory  for  the  purpose  existing  in  the  Straits 
Settlement.  Certain  species  of  coconut  are  especially 
cultivated  for  coir,  since  they  yield  large  quantities  of 
fibre.  Coir  and  copra  production  are,  however,  almost 
mutually  exclusive — copra  requiring  the  mature  fruit 
while  a  good  quality  of  coir  must  be  made  from  the 
green  husk. 

The  wood  of  the  coco  palm  is  known  as  "porcupine 
wood."  It  is  furnished  only  by  the  outer  part  of  the 
cylindrical  trunk,  the  central  core  being  simply  fibrous. 
Its  usefulness  is  rather  limited  and  restricted  mostly 
to  regions  where  it  grows.  The  bast-like  leaf  sheaths 
are  used  for  native  clothing,  the  leaves  for  plaiting 
and  thatching,  the  fibrous  core  of  the  trunk,  for  cord- 
age and  brushes,  in  fact  every  part  of  this  tropical  tree 
is  utilized.  From  the  inner  shell  of  the  nut,  dippers, 
cups  and  other  vessels  are  easily  fashioned.  The  Mus- 
eum displays  a  varied  collection  of  these  as  well  as  of 
all  other  coconut  products,  such  as  oil,  sugar,  candles, 
cordage,  brushes,  mats. 

The  Dutch  East  Indies,  Ceylon,  Straits  Settle- 
ments,  Philippines,   India,   Zanzibar,    South  America 

[14] 


The  Coco  Palm  7 

and  West  Indies  are  the  chief  producing  and  exporting 
countries  in  order  of  their  importance.  The  Philip- 
pines, for  instance,  produce  annually  about  a  billion 
nuts,  150  millions  of  which  are  consumed  locally,  and 
the  remainder  exported.  The  value  of  the  exports  in 
1913  was  fifteen  to  twenty  million  dollars.  A  ton  of 
copra,  the  product  of  about  5,000  nuts,  brought  them 
about  $100.  Large  coco  palm  plantations  often  twenty 
to  100,000  acres  in  extent,  are  being  established  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  to  keep  pace  with  the 
demand  which  is  increasing  with  the  decline  in  the 
supply  of  animal  fats.  The  coconut  supply  to  the 
United  States  has  hitherto  come  chiefly  from  the 
American  tropics,  Central  America,  Colombia,  Brazil, 
and  the  West  Indies.  The  trees  in  this  region  are 
lately  threatened  by  a  fungus  disease,  the  so-called 
"bud-rot,"  which  has  gained  a  foot-hold.  A  few  coco 
palms  are  grown  in  the  United  States,  mostly  for  orna- 
mental purposes,  on  the  east  coast  of  Florida  and  along 
the  Gulf.  The  Museum  specimen  is  a  reconstruction 
within  the  limitations  of  an  exhibition  case,  of  the 
bearing  portion  of  a  South  Florida  palm  in  a  well 

developed  stage. 

B.  E.  Dahlgren. 


The  exhibits  in  the  Field  Museum  pertaining  to  the  Coconut 
palm  and  its  economic  products  are  to  be  found  in  the  Department 
of  Botany,  Halls  25  and  28  on  the  second  floor. 


[15] 


